Reaped
by RadianteMono
Summary: Hunger Games AU, kink meme prompt. He never should've been picked, he never should've survived past day one. But sometimes the impossible happens. Warning: Eventual extreme violence and gore, character death, swearing, angst? Pairings within.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've taken a lot of liberties with ages in writing this. First off, Sweden and Finland are thirty-eight and thirty-seven. Denmark is forty-one, Norway is forty, and Iceland is thirty, England is twenty-seven, Sealand is twelve. Sweden and Denmark are biological brothers, as are Norway and Iceland, England and Sealand, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Names: Denmark–Mathias, Norway–Sigurd, Iceland–Emil, Liechtenstein–Lilli, Victoria–Wy

One major change is that Peter is not from the "Seam"/poor area. He's rich. _Very_ rich. His parents and uncles all own stores. (Berwald–Furniture, Tino–Bakery, Mathias–Decorative Weapons, Sigurd–Books)

*This chapter takes place a couple of months before reaping. It won't seem very Hunger Games-y until next chapter. But I need this chapter for a few things in future chapters to make sense.

**This chapter is mostly a couple of "snippets" to explain a couple of things later on.

* * *

><p>Peter busted into the door of his daddy's bakery, promptly going behind the counter where his daddy stood in front of an oven. He hugged his waist and looked up, smiling happily. His daddy looked down at him and smiled warmly back at him, ruffling his hair with his hand before pulling a cake out of the oven and placing it on the counter to cool.<p>

"How's my favorite little man today?" Tino leaned down and pressed a kiss onto Peter's forehead. He got a piece of chocolate cake and placed it on a small plate, handing it to Peter before directing him to sit down at a table inside the bakery.

"I feel pretty good, Daddy! Lilli gave me a flower today! I have it in my pocket. I'm going to keep it forever!" Peter said happily, swinging his feet back and forth underneath the table. Tino sighed in content as his little boy talked about Lilli. He was growing up so fast. And Lilli was such a pretty little girl. It seemed like he and Berwald had only just adopted Peter yesterday and now he was falling in love for the first time. Peter and Lilli would be a picture perfect couple.

"Why don't you press the flower in a book? That way you can keep the flower forever." Tino suggested, Peter chomping on his slice of cake. He looked up at his daddy.

"You mean if I press it into a book, it won't rot?" Peter looked at his father in awe. Does that mean Lilli's flower would be almost as pretty as Lilli forever? He smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out the small pink flower and holding it in his hands. Tino nodded and looked at the flower.

"Is that the flower that Lilli gave you?" Tino looked at the flower in Peter's hand. It was pink, with a single leaf protruding from the stem. It looked delicate, as though if handled too much it would break. It was a very beautiful flower to say the least.

"Put it back in your pocket, Peter. I'll have Papa press it for you later, okay?" Peter nodded and put it back. "You wanna help me ice some cake, Peter? I have a small one we're going to have for dinner tonight in the oven right now, you can decorate it if you want."

"Wow, really? You're cakes are going to look ugly compared to mine, Daddy!" Peter said, balling his hands into fists and eyes shining mischievously. He ate the last bit of cake before putting the fork onto the plate and handing it to Tino. Tino took the plate and went back behind the counter, putting the dishes into the sink and washing them. A customer purchased a cake, Tino taking care of them before pulling the small cake out of the oven to cool.

"Okay Peter, we need to wait for this small cake to cool before you can decorate it. Why don't you draw a picture while you wait? There are some pencils, crayons and paper in the drawer underneath the cash register." Tino said, decorating the cake he had set out to cool whenever Peter had arrived.

"Okay, Daddy!" Peter ran off and retrieved his paper, crayons, and pencils before going to a table in the bakery and beginning a picture. He started drawing a dragon, and himself as a knight. Of course he would be saving Princess Lilli Zwingli from the evil dragon! Peter drew the dragon breathing fire at him, the flames getting deflected by his shield. Peter smiled as the mental image of Princess Lilli and Prince Peter's wedding conjured itself up in his head.

"Wow, that's a scary dragon, isn't it?" Peter turned around and saw Tino looking at the picture he was drawing. The white apron Tino was wearing was covered in icing of various colors. The majority of the icing appeared to be chocolate, though. Peter flushed at the realization that his father watched him. "Anyways, the cake has cooled down. Come decorate it!"

"Yay!" Peter got up and ran behind the counter to his cake, a bowl of chocolate icing left by Tino next to it as well as a spatula to spread on the icing. Peter grabbed the spatula and began spreading the icing onto the cake unevenly. The cake was smothered in chocolate icing by the time he was finished. He glanced up at Tino. "Can I have that one thingy you use?"

Tino looked at Peter in confusion. He took the cake he was decorating and pointed at it. "What thing? The thing to put the border on it, like this?" Peter nodded in confirmation. "What kind of icing do you want? Chocolate?"

"No, I want vanilla!" Peter said, Tino nodding and filling the tube with vanilla icing. He gave it to Peter.

"Just squeeze it and ice along the edge of the cake," Peter nodded, Tino putting the cake he had finished on display and taking care of a customer before returning to the kitchen and pulling out some loaves of bread from a separate oven. "Now, Papa said that tomorrow he'll take you to go fishing if you want. He got a permit that allows him to legally fish in the designated lake on the edge of the district."

"Really? I haven't fished in like, a whole year!" Peter said enthusiastically, the icing border he was applying becoming uneven as he fidgeted. He finished the border and handed Tino the tube. "Daddy, look at my cake!" Tino's hand was grabbed, being directed towards the crudely iced cake.

"It's beautiful, Peter. I'll put it in a box to take home tonight, we'll have it after dinner," Tino grabbed a small box, promptly placing it inside and putting it aside until it was time to return home. "Peter, how about you go over to Papa in the furniture store? It closed early but Papa is still there."

"Okie dokie, Daddy!" Peter walked out from behind the counter and out of the bakery. He walked to the building next to the bakery, looking around at the town. There was a guy from the poor part of the district taking a dead turkey to the butcher. He could see Uncle Mathias' decorative weapons shop across the street, too. The Peacekeepers monitored it all the time; they claimed that someone could buy something and provoke a rebellion or something. He pulled on the door to his papa's furniture, the door not budging.

Peter knocked on the glass door and looked inside. His papa was sitting behind the counter, filling out a sheet of paper. Peter knocked harder on the glass, getting his papa's attention. He looked up at the door and saw him, a small smile forming on his face. Berwald got up and walked over to the door, opening it up and letting Peter in before re-locking it. Peter walked behind the counter and sat down on the soft loveseat. Berwald sat back down on his stool and continued working on his paper.

"'M almost done, gimme a sec." Berwald said, filling out the sheet of paper. Peter glanced around the shop. It was nice, and Papa made a bunch of it himself! Berwald took the sheet of paper off his desk and placed it into a manilla folder, putting it next to the register. "'Kay. How are ya?"

Peter fidgeted in the chair. "Awesome, Papa! Daddy said that tomorrow you'll take me fishing!" Berwald smiled (slightly) at his son.

"Got yer fishin' pole ready. 'S on the edge of the district." Berwald got up and sat down next to Peter on the small loveseat behind the counter. He wrapped an arm around Peter and pulled him closer.

"I can't wait, Papa! I love to fish, and Daddy can make yummy food from it!" Berwald nodded and rubbed his hand up and down Peter's arm.

"Yer a good fisher." Peter was surprisingly good at fishing given the nature of the sport. The normally anxious boy always calmed down when he was around water for some reason. He gained the patience to wait for a nibble from the fish, almost always reeling one in. Beyond that, Peter was useless with fish, however. Unable to cook it and unsure of what to actually do with it.

"Are we going out early?"

"Mm-hmm. Gonna go early. Get some sleep tonight." Peter nodded and stood up, reaching into his pocket with more ease than if he had been sitting down and pulled out the flower Lilli had given him.

"Look, Papa! Lilli gave me a flower today, isn't it pretty?" Berwald tried to take it out of Peter's hand to look at it, only to have Peter pull it away closer to his chest. Berwald pulled his hand back. "No, Papa! It's mine!"

Berwald cracked a tiny grin. Peter was such a little boy sometimes. He remembered when Peter went through the "cooties" phase of his childhood and refused to get close to a girl, let alone a girly-girl like Lilli. He was glad that neither he nor Tino was female; he didn't want Peter gravitating to one of them due to something that shouldn't matter.

"Daddy said that you would be able to press it in a book for me, so it stays pretty forever. You can touch it then, okay?" Peter looked at Berwald, kicking his legs back and forth.

"'Kay." Berwald sat with Peter until it was time to go home, a yummy chocolate cake awaiting the two.

* * *

><p>"Look, Papa! I got another one!" Peter reeled in a large fish, the fish wriggling on the line as Peter held it over the boat, the flopping fish getting the water dripping off of it all over the place. Berwald pulled the container with their other fish out of the water and took the top off, unhooking the fish and dropping it in before placing the top back on and dropping it under the water. He handed Peter some bait, Peter putting it on the hook before casting the line back into the water. "Papa?"<p>

"Mm?" Berwald made a sound of confirmation as he reeled in what appeared to be a shoe filled with gunk. He frowned and put it in the garbage bag he and Peter had on the dock, filled with other old shoes, a thong that he promptly discarded before Peter saw it, and what he was rather certain was the sweater he had gotten for Mathias last Christmas.

"Are we having all this fish for dinner? I don't think I can eat that much of it..." Peter said, reeling in a pair of boxers before placing it in the garbage bag. He looked down at the water and saw a dead fish floating on the water, causing his brows to furrow until he looked away at a snake in the water.

"Nah. Gonna eat some. Save some. Sell some." Berwald replied, pulling up a snake that he had hooked. He pulled it off and threw it back in. "Can sell yer fish and buy ya a toy."

"No! I wanna buy a necklace with a fish on it and give it to Lilli! That way she'll love me forever!" Berwald nodded as he reeled in a fish and took care of it, putting it with the others.

"'S real pretty." Berwald responded, getting an enthusiastic nod in response from his son.

"Duh, Papa! Her hair looks so shiny, and her ribbon is so cute! But her brother doesn't like boys hanging out with her." Peter pouted and reeled in a fish, having his father put it away for him.

"Just tryin' to protect her." Berwald said, emphasis added on this statement as if to stress to Peter that it was different than the other statements. He knew all about being protective; there was no way Peter was going to spend a night at Victoria's house. She was way too wily, Peter would probably wind up rushed to the hospital with a broken leg or something.

"But PaaaPaa, I'm a good boy!" Peter whined as he reeled in his line, took the bait off the hook and put it back, and set down the fishing pole on the dock. Berwald reached over an ruffled Peter's hair.

"Know that. He doesn't," Berwald pulled his line out of the water and set it down, tying up the bag full of garbage before removing the hook and bait from his own pole before taking care of the hook on Peter's. He pulled the fish out from the water, setting it down on the dock before finishing up with getting all their stuff together. "Prove it to 'im."

Peter stood up at the same time Berwald did, picking up the fishing rods while Berwald carried their catches and tackle box.* Berwald began walking towards their home in town, around a mile and a half from the town. "But how do I prove it, Papa? I can't even get near her outside of school!" Peter looked down and sulked for a moment.

"Dunno," Peter sighed at the response, the taller of his two fathers not having an answer. "Try provin' ya can take care of yerself."

"_Freeze!" _Peter snapped his head up in shock as a peacekeeper pointed a gun at his father. Berwald froze in his tracks as the man inched closer to him, finger on the trigger and ready to pull. Peter's arms shook slightly as the man looked at him. "Show me your permit to fish, or I'll kill you," the gun was pointed towards Peter, "And the boy for illegally fishing! _**Now!**_"

Berwald very slowly set down the tackle box, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and taking out the permit with his picture on it, very carefully handing it to the peacekeeper. The peacekeeper took it and frowned. He handed it back to Berwald. The peacekeeper then turned his gun towards Peter.

"Where's _his_ fishing permit?" Peter's gut twisted inside of him. He didn't have a permit, did he? But kids have never needed permits before, ever! Every year Papa would take him out fishing several times and Peter had never needed one!

Berwald looked at the man in confusion, though the peacekeeper interpreted it as a glare and got his gun ready. "Doesn't need one."

The peacekeeper glared. "Yes, he does."

Berwald's jaw dropped slightly. "Since when...?" Peter noticed his Papa's arms starting to tremble, making him shiver in fear.

"Since this morning, when the new law was enacted," Berwald was visibly shocked, more expression being shown then than Peter could recall. The man shot Berwald with a stun gun rather than the gun he had been aiming at him that would have killed him. He handcuffed Berwald while he was down, much to Peter's horror. The peacekeeper pulled out a phone to communicate with the other peacekeepers. "Yeah... He was... With his son... Just now..."

The peacekeeper kicked Berwald in the gut. "You," Berwald looked up at the man. He pointed at Peter. "He obviously doesn't have a fishing permit."

"Don't hurt 'im. Don't hurt m'son, please. _Please,_" Berwald's eyes got slightly wet at the corners. "Don't kill 'im."

The peacekeeper scoffed. "Nothing's going to happen to him," Berwald sighed with relief. "But you, sir, aren't getting off. You're allowed to keep your fish," Berwald furrowed his brows. "But you're going to be sentenced to a public whipping. One-hundred lashes."

Peter's eyes widened, tears starting to overflow from his eyes. "Don't hurt Papa, please!" The peacekeeper and Berwald both looked at him.

"Tough luck, brat. It's what he gets for breaking the law. He's lucky I don't kill him right now," The peacekeeper walked over and handed Peter a cell phone. "Call your mom and tell her to come and get you. Your father is coming with _me_."

Peter choked out a sob as he dialed the number.

* * *

><p>Peter fidgeted nervously in the living room to his home, awaiting the rest of his family to arrive. Technically, Mathias, Sigurd and Emil didn't live with him and his parents, but they lived right next door. So they might as well have lived there. All five members of his family were gone; right after he had called Daddy, he was whisked away to the house before Tino told him to put the fish in the bathroom, bolting out the door. Less than five minutes later Peter watched out the window as Mathias, Sigurd, and Emil ran behind him towards the town square. The peacekeeper had taken Papa away.<p>

It was all his fault! If only Papa went to go fishing that morning by himself! Then he wouldn't be getting reduced to a bloody pulp in the town square. But he just _had_ to have his fun fishing with his Papa. It was like saying he just _had_ to have his father whipped one-hundred times. It wasn't like he had never seen a public whipping before. He had seen a few. It was supposed to deter people from crime, which was sadly common among the poorer crowd.

He saw his best friend, Raivis, get whipped twenty times once because he accidentally commented on some regulation that was stupid. He was only ten, and it had shaken him up to where he trembled all the time. Would Papa be like that? Peter shook at the thought of his Papa, who was never afraid of anything, the bravest man he knew, afraid of his own shadow like Raivis was, convinced that someone was out to get him for nothing.

He turned on the television to clear his thoughts. There were tacky romantic comedies from the Capitol airing, along with news from the Capitol and animated cartoons from, as always, the Capitol. It couldn't distract the youth, who simply clicked off the television, grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil from a draw in the kitchen, went back to the living room, and plopped down in front of the coffee table, drawing a picture of Lilli.

Peter had just finished sketching out Lilli in a wedding dress when the door was slammed open, Emil coming in first and holding the door open as Mathias and Tino came in, supporting Berwald as they carried him into the house. Peter's massive eyebrows rose in horror at the sight. His Papa's back was covered in blood, Uncle Mathias and Daddy having gotten some on their shirts as they dragged him towards the bathroom. Uncle Sigurd came in shortly after, a first-aid kit in his arms along with tons of bandages.

The _thwack_ that sounded through the air as Raivis was whipped shot through Peter's mind in an instant when he saw his father. The peacekeepers always took their victim's shirts off to intensify the pain, no fabric in between the whip and the tender flesh. Not that it made much of a difference, but still...

Papa was gritting his teeth an awful lot, silent tears streaking the side of his face while his eyes were squeezed shut. Uncle Mathias looked really angry, and Daddy was crying. Sigurd followed behind, his expression visibly darkened from his usual demeanor while Emil closed the door and followed the other four. Peter gulped and followed Emil to the bathroom.

Berwald was slumped over the edge of the bathtub being cleaned off with rags by Tino, Mathias taking a rag and grabbing the the bottle of alcohol that Sigurd handed to him before soaking said rag in alcohol. The fish also in the bathtub were completely ignored, save for Mathias picking the container up and moving it aside to make room. Emil and Peter merely looked on as the other three did their work. Tino tossed rags to the side whenever too much blood was soaked up. Soon the blood was gone for the most part, revealing the gashes in his skin cause by the whip.

"Berwald, we're going to put the alcohol on now, okay?" Tino stroked his hand through Berwald's hair as he nodded slowly, balling his hands up in fists as he braced himself. Tino turned to Mathias, who was holding the alcohol-soaked rag above his back. "Go ahead, Mathias."

"Sorry, _bror_." Peter could say the shriek that his father made whenever the alcohol made contact with his injury was the worst sound he had ever heard. Tino cringed and looked away, Sigurd shifting in his seat uncomfortably and Emil turning around. Mathias pressed the rag onto his skin and started moving it around, Berwald eventually going limp against the bathtub. Tino promptly freaked out.

"Oh my god! Did he die?" Tino yelled out into the silent room. Mathias set the rag down and pressed his fingers to Berwald's neck, checking his pulse.

"He's still alive, he just passed out because of the pain," Mathias concluded, taking his hand off of his brother's neck and picking the rag back up. "We should fix him up before we wakes up so it won't hurt him as much," Mathias frowned as he pressed the rag onto Berwald's back. "Someday, someone is going to rebel against these fuckers, and we won't have to deal with his shit anymore."

Sigurd scowled. "Someone said that eighty years ago. And look what happened. The rebellion was crushed and now we have the Hunger Games, moron." Mathias sighed and continued rubbing on the alcohol before he tossed the rag aside. He stepped aside as Sigurd approached the limp body and sat on his knees behind him, wrapping the body up in bandages.

"Maybe someday things will get better?" Tino suggested, simply getting a _look_ from Mathias before he turned away and picked up the bloody rags, putting them all into a small pile in the bathtub.

"Fat chance," Mathias scoffed, putting the cap back on the bottle of alcohol and wringing out the rag over the sink. "And maybe they'll stop killing little kids." Tino sighed and waited for Sigurd to finish bandaging up Berwald.

Mathias and Tino both grabbed one of Berwald's arms and lifted the unconscious man up, dragging him out of the bathroom and towards the bedroom. Mathias looked down at Peter on his way out, flashing his trademark smile on his way out. Sigurd was putting all the stuff up in the first-aid kit, Emil grabbing the pile of bloody rags and taking them out of the bathroom.

Peter walked up to Sigurd and fidgeted for a moment, Sigurd to focused on organizing everything in the box to notice. "Uncle Sigurd?"

"Mm?" Sigurd made a sound of acknowledgment, not bothering to look back up at his nephew. Peter fidgeted with his fingers.

"Is Papa going to die?" Sigurd stopped organizing his first-aid kit to look at Peter. Peter looked pretty worried, at least compared to what he was used to seeing. He sighed and put the first aid kit down.

"Berwald is not going to die, Peter. He's just hurt. He's probably going to be bedridden for a while." Peter felt silent tears roll down his face.

"But he got hurt because of me! I didn't have a fishing permit and now Papa is hurt really badly!" Peter started crying, Sigurd awkwardly pulled Peter into what might have been interpreted as a sort-of hug by some, patting the boy's back. He wasn't used to making contact with anyone other than Mathias.

"That was not your fault, Peter. When a law changes, many suffer because the changes aren't announced. It would have happened eventually. If not to him, then to someone else. He was very lucky that he wasn't put to death, since illegal hunting is punishable by death and that the law is usually enforced to the fullest extent." Peter sniffled.

"But Papa is hurt..." Peter choked out another sob.

"But _you're_ alive. _He's_ alive. He'll be better soon. He can't get another Peter, and you can't get another Papa. Be thankful that he's around and you aren't being raised by your jackass uncle," Peter laughed a little. Sigurd started organizing his first-aid kit again. "Why don't you go eat some cookies or something? I'm busy..."

"Okay." At that, Peter left the bathroom, going to bug Emil and pushing the image of Papa's blood-stained back out of his head. It was going to be okay. He wasn't going to die, right?

No, his Papa was going to stay alive and well. And protect him from anything. And so would Mathias, and Sigurd, and Daddy, and Emil.

They would all make sure of it.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm **_very_** pissed off to say the least. I had around eight pages of the not-even complete next chapter written, a couple of hours of work, deleted. My laptop overheated and when I turned it back on, my OpenOffice wanted me to register it again. I thought it was odd but I did it anyways. So then I decide to open up the next chapter and keep working on it. What fucking happens? It's gone. All of it. I have eight fucking pages of ######'s covering the screen. I don't even know what all is gone, all I've had checked at the time of typing this were these two things.

Originally this was actually supposed to be a fill starring Switzerland that ended on the train ride to the Capitol, but I somehow wound up writing Peter instead. It just seemed like there was too much of him in my original write. The "Hunger Games"-esque stuff starts next chapter. Of course the peacekeeper was Hunger Games like, but still. :|

I had a lot of trouble with the short scene with Peter watching television, because I don't think television was mentioned much, if at all, throughout the entire series. Aside from the Hunger Games being aired on television.

My dad has a couple of flowers that my mom pressed when they were teenagers. Now, five years after she died, the flowers still look pretty nice. It's really sweet. :)

*I've been fishing before, though it's been a few years. I would say it's been eight or nine years. If I remember correctly, I put the fish I caught in this cylinder-shaped thing that didn't have water in it, but it had tiny holes or something in to so if I tied it to the dock and hung it off the side, the fish wouldn't be able to swim away but would still be submerged in water. And when pulled out of the water, the water in the container would drain out through the little holes.

*I'm fairly sure that tackle boxes are what the boxes with all the fishing supplies in it are called.

I realized I forgot to put the story's pairings in since I posted this at two in the morning. XD  
>SuFin, SealandLiechtenstein, Prussia/fem!Romano and platonic Sealand/Belgium are the mains here. Hinted-at pairings include past USUK, DenNor, and LietPol.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter takes place around six months after the last one. This is when the Hunger Games-esque stuff starts.

Laura–Belgium, Batur–Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

* * *

><p>Peter stood perfectly still as his parents both stood around him, making him look his best much to the boy's dismay. Didn't they know he could do it himself?<p>

Tino quietly patted down Peter's body with a towel, drying him off completely. Peter felt sort of awkward that his parents were seeing him naked. Sure, they had thousands of times before, they changed his diapers and bathed him when he was a baby! But... this was different. Tino handed Peter a pair of black boxers while Berwald plugged the hair drying into the wall, turning it on once Peter had finished putting on his underwear. The warm air began blowing onto his hair, drying it out. Berwald brushed the dried hair, causing Peter to yelp in pain and pull away.

"Try an' bear it." Berwald said, brushing through the hair and leaving it soft and shiny when he was done. Berwald knitted his brows together as he focused on the task at hand, concentration occasionally being broken when Peter tried to move away. Tino smoothed out a lone wrinkle that had made its way onto the blue dress shirt he had gotten for Peter. Once Berwald was finished with Peter's hair, Tino put the dress shirt on, buttoning it up for Peter. He handed the black pants to him was well, Peter slipping them on and buttoning them up before Tino slid the belt around the loops in the pants. Berwald handed a blue and white striped tie to Tino, Tino quickly slipping the tie around Peter's neck and tying it.

"Daddy, why can't I get dressed on my own?" Peter whined, sticking his lower lip out slightly as he crossed his arms in a pout. Tino glanced at him and smiled.

"Because you and I both know that you would just throw these nice clothes onto the toilet seat while you took your shower, then not dry yourself off all the way and get your clothes wet. And you'd just leave your hair wet and wait for it to dry," Tino gestured for Berwald to hand him the hairbrush, combing through Peter's near-flawless hair again to remove any stray snags of hair and leave it smooth. He handed the brush back to Berwald. "Oh, you look so handsome! Berwald, go get our camera and bring it to the living room!"

Berwald nodded and walked out of the bathroom, Tino and Peter both going to the living where three men were awaiting them. Mathias had his arm around Sigurd's shoulders, rubbing up and down on his arm. He leaned in and tried to kiss Sigurd, Sigurd flushing and punching Mathias in the stomach. Mathias made a slight whimpering noise as he placed both hands on his stomach and groaned in pain. Sigurd crossed his arms, Emil looking on in boredom.

"Uncle Mathias, can I punch you, too?" Peter asked, walking up to him and sitting beside him. Tino took a seat on the couch next the couch that Peter was sitting on. Mathias glanced over at Peter and smiled weakly.

"Nah, I don't think Sigurd would like that." Mathias glanced at Sigurd, who stared back at him. He winked, causing Sigurd's face to flush, quickly turning around. Sigurd forwned and looked Peter dead in the face.

"Go ahead and do it." Peter's face lit up, Tino quickly interjecting as Peter's arm pulled back, balled up into a fist.

"Peter! Don't punch Mathias, sweetie. That's Sigurd's job, okay?" Peter whined in annoyance, turning away from his uncles and crossing his arms, pouting. Mathias laughed, still rubbing his stomach as it ached within him.

"It's just Sigurd's way of saying 'I love you,' Peter. How about your way of saying 'I love you' to me be that your papa really hard in the balls?" Tino's jaw dropped, Emil rolled his eyes, Sigurd scowled, and Peter's mouth formed an o-shape.

"Mathias!" Tino shouted, face flustered. "Don't use that language, and that would hurt him!"

"Aww, I getcha Tino. You need his balls to work so you can-" Sigurd punched Mathias in the stomach again, Mathias gagging and gasping for air on the couch. Peter got up and went to sit next to Tino, mostly because he was afraid Mathias would fall to his side and land on top of him.

Berwald came into the living room with the camera, quickly snapping a picture of Peter with it. He grinned slightly at the sight of Mathias is pain. He took a picture of him in pain before walking over and handing the camera to Tino.

"Okay, Peter, get over there against the wall and let me take a picture of you! You look so handsome with you little tie and nice clothes," Tino looked over at Berwald. "Oh, Berwald, our baby is growing up so fast, isn't he?" Berwald nodded silently. Mathias bit his lip, silencing himself. Tino took a picture of Peter, quickly taking several more.

"Berwald, can you put these on the computer after the reaping?" Berwald nodded and took the camra, setting it on the kitchen counter before returning to the living room. Peter sat down on the couch, Tino taking the nice shoes he had placed in the living room and handing them to Peter once he had gotten his socks on. "Now, Peter. You know what to do after the reaping, right?"

"Yes, Daddy! After the reaping, I'm supposed to go to the bakery, and wait for you, or Papa, or Uncle Emil, or Uncle Mathias, or Uncle Sigurd. But only go with Uncle Mathias if Uncle Sigurd is with him, and then stay with whoever gets me until we all have dinner tonight. Is it gonna be yummy, Daddy?"

"You bet your ass it's gonna be good, I went to the butcher and asked for the freshest meat possible for dinner tonight! I'll bet that cow is still mooing right now. And Tino made a cake, too." Mathias closed his eyes and thought about the dinner awaiting them that night. God, he couldn't wait. The carnivore within him wanted that steak _now_!

"Language, Mathias..." Tino said, Peter watching the exchange and noting the adult's reactions.

"Fine, killjoy." Mathias kept a hand on his stomach and reached over to wrap his other arm around Sigurd.

Peter looked around the room nervously for a second. "Daddy, Papa, what if I get reaped?"

"Ya won't" Berwald said, bluntly. Tino scowled at him slightly for saying so little to such a question.

"What Papa means is that you won't get picked. The reaping is really... biased, as far as the children picked go. Less fortunate children can have their names entered more than once in exchange for a month's worth of grains and oil. But you've never needed to sign up, so even though you're entered once, another boy your age might be entered ten times. Understand?"

Mathias added his own bit. "Yeah, when's the last time you remembered a rich kid getting picked? Besides those rich kids that volunteer, but they don't count. You're gonna be fine, buddy." Mathias flashed a smile, coaxing the boy into smiling as well.

"Okay. When are we supposed to go to the square? I wanna see Raivis!"

"You have to be there in thirty minutes. You three should probably go on ahead, since this jackass will slow you up." Sigurd shot a brief glare at Mathias, who at the moment had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Yeah, you guys should go ahead, Sigurd wants to _stay behind_ with me. And we'll let Emil-" Mathias was then promptly whacked upside the head by Emil's hand.

Berwald glared before grabbing Peter's hand, taking it into his own as Tino hooked his arm around Berwald's. The three left the house, stepping out into town.

The presence of all the cameras unnerved Peter today. He had seen eleven reapings in his life, though he only really recalled the last couple. But now, this year, he was going to be up there with him.

He was scared. He knew he shouldn't be, he wasn't going to get picked, but the ominous atmosphere was just too much. This district was poor, compared to all the others. Tributes were the equivalent of corpses. If one was picked, one was never seen again, usually.

The trio walked to the roped-off areas for tributes to gather at. Berwald took the clipboard handed to him by the peacekeeper and began writing on it, Peter grabbing onto Tino's hand with a deathgrip. The comfort of Tino's hand didn't last long, quickly being pulled away so Tino could write things on the clipboard. Peter was finally handed the clipboard, signing his name before handing it to the peacekeeper and being moved aside to allow for others to sign in.

Tino got down on his knees, reaching his hands out and grabbing onto Peter's shoulders tightly. Peter gulped.

"Don't be afraid, Peter. Just wait for it to be over with, then come to the bakery and wait for one of us. And _wait for Uncle Sigurd if only Uncle Mathias comes_. Be brave, okay? Papa and I both had to stand in the same crowd in this exact same place. And we're okay, you will be, too," Tino pressed a kiss on Peter's forehead. "I love you, sweetie."

Berwald leaned down and kissed the same spot Tino had. "Love ya too." Berwald then awkwardly patted Peter's shoulder, smiling slightly though to bystanders and people just passing by he looked like a child rapist bent on murdering someone.

"Daddy, Papa, you're embarrassing meee." Peter whined, getting a chuckle from the shorter man in return.

"Sorry. We'll see you soon, okay?" Peter nodded, both his parents turning away and walking off, leaving Peter by himself. A peacekeeper poked him in the back with his gun.

"Move along, kid. You're in the way." At that, Peter was ushered into the area reserved for twelve-year old children, in the very back of the crowd. The older children were closest to the temporary stage, the youngest in the back. It did mean that Peter would be with his own age group, though. That much was comforting. After a few moments of standing in nervous anticipation, a familiar face was shoved into Peter's vicinity by a peacekeeper.

"Hey, watch where you're going," Peter turned around, coming face-to-face with his best friend, Raivis. "Oh, Raivis! How's it going? I haven't seen you in like, three days or something!" Peter pulled said boy into a tight hug, not seeming to notice the intense trembling of the other. Raivis patted Peter on the back and laughed nervously.

"I-I'm good. A little nervous..." Peter stopped hugging Raivis and looked at him.

"Don't worry, Raivis! My family told me that the reaping is biased towards poorer people. And my family and your dad all have lots of money, so we're okay!" Peter cheerfully pulled Raivis into a one-armed hug. "You know what? You should convince your dad to let you come over to my house one of these days."*

"W-Well, I never really asked..." Raivis admitted, staring at the large glass balls on the temporary stage. Peter cocked his head to the side.

"What are you lookin' at, Raivis?" Peter asked, eying Raivis quizzically.

"Oh, I'm just l-looking at the gl-glass balls up there... You said i-it'd be okay, but... I'm still really scared." Raivis began staring at the stage as well, two large glass balls on the stage. One for the boys, one for the girls.

One slip of paper in the male ball had _Peter Kirkland_ written on it in the perfect handwriting of some government employee unknown to the public. Another slip had _Raivis Galante_ written on it in the same perfect, flawless handwriting. Peter hesitantly looked at the female ball. One slip of paper had _Lilli Zwingli_ written on it, right? ...She didn't have more than one, _right_?

Peter gulped and looked at the stage, studying it. The man from the Capitol that announced the children going to the Hunger Games, Antonio Carriedo, was chatting with the district's mayor. The only living Hunger Games victor from the district, Arthur Kirkland, was slouched in his chair with a scowl on his face.

Seeing Arthur made Peter feel uncomfortable. Peter knew Arthur was his brother. His daddy and papa had told him that. What Peter knew was that Arthur was the only person from the district still alive to have won the Hunger Games. The games apparently damaged him mentally. Shortly after he returned, his boyfriend/fiance Alfred Jones died in a horrible accident. He was so mentally damaged that he couldn't raise Peter. Peter was immediately adopted by a homosexual couple who desperately wanted a child, leaving Arthur alone. And once free from responsibility for another life, Arthur drowned himself in alcohol. All day, every day.

The man on the stage looked broken. Peter had a couple of pictures of Arthur and Alfred that his parents had given to him once he was old enough. His favorite was of Arthur and Alfred sitting on the couch, Alfred's arm wrapped around Arthur and pulling him close. A bright smile was on Alfred's face, a smaller one on Arthur's. Arthur was holding a bundle, a baby's head poking out, massive eyebrows raised high. The man on the stage was not the man in the picture Peter loved so much.

The roped-off area containing the two boys became crowded as more and more children flooded into the square. Peter shivered and pulled Raivis close as all talking ceased, the sound of a pin dropping the equivalent to a clap of thunder following lightning.

The mayor of the district, a tall man with olive-colored skin and stubble, began speaking of the Hunger Games. How it was a punishment for defying the almighty Capitol, and its glorious leader, Ivan Braginski's grandfather. To this day, Ivan Braginski makes sure that the country is kept in line and reminded of what once happened when the districts tried to rebel. The mayor was visibly conflicted with what he was saying. Maybe it was because his own son, Batur, was standing alongside Peter in the crowd of children that could be reaped. The mayor concluded his speech and took his seat next to Antonio.

Antonio quickly stood up, walking towards the podium. "Hola, amigos! ¿Cómo estás? I think the Hunger Games this year are going to be muy emocionante, no? Let's go ahead and see which lucky kids are going to the Capitol!" Antonio strolled over to the large glass ball filled with girl's names, reaching in and pulling out a lone slip of paper before going back to the podium. "You know, these glass balls are like giant, clear tomatoes." Antonio laughed.

Peter bit his lower lip. _Don't be Lilli Zwingli, don't be Lilli Zwingli, don't be Lilli Zwingli..._

"Laura Maes! Come on up, chica!" Peter breathed a sigh of relief at the revelation that his crush wasn't going away. Now he had another one-hundred percent completely safe year of wooing to do.

The girl, Laura, walked up to the stage from what appeared to be the sixteen-year old girls. Her blonde hair and golden dress shined in the sunlight as she walked up to the stage.

Wow, she was _pretty_. Not as pretty as Lilli, but she was still really pretty! He golden hair bounced as she made each stride towards the ominous stage.

Laura ascended the stairs and stood on the stage, Antonio patting her on the shoulder. "Do we have any chicas that want to volunteer?"

The crowd was dead silent, her fate sealed as the silence confirmed nobody was willing to take her place in going towards certain death.

Arthur stumbled to stand up, walking towards Laura before tumbling to the ground. Having some trouble getting up, Arthur swatted Antonio away and stood up, walking towards Laura and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She was visibly disturbed as Arthur began stuttering something in his drunken stupor.

"I like this chick! She's got... Uh... Bloody hell, w-what's the word...?" Arthur's words were slurred, some seeming to run together. "This chick's got spunk! I like her!" Arthur gave her a drunken hug before pulling away and staggering back towards his chair. He plopped down into his chair, his head swaying slightly from side to side.

"Well, that was muy extraño. Well, you can just take a seat over there. I slipped a tomato under the seats for each tribute, so go ahead and eat it! I already washed them before the reaping~!" Antonio walked over to the large glass ball filled with boy's names, reaching in and pulling a slip of paper out.

"Peter Kirkland! Come on up, chico!"

And then time stood still. The world stopped spinning, the sun stopped shining, his heart stopped beating. Somewhere in the massive crowd of citizens, a tall and intimidating man started shivering, and a smaller man's eyes went wider than dinner plates.

Raivis started shaking Peter, to snap him out of his daze. "P-Peter, they called your-" Raivis was cut off as Peter mechanically started moving, largely unaware of what he was doing. He ascended the stairs wordlessly, staring out at the crowd.

Arthur's eye twitched, quickly bolting out of his chair and falling over. He staggered over to Peter. "You bloody wankers can't do that! This is my brother!" Arthur turned and faced a camera, unaware that tons of others were also focused on him. "You bastards are sick! He's so much better than you, killing little kids!"

Peter choked out a slight sob as the cameras diverted towards Arthur. Papa and Daddy lied to him! He wanted to go home and watch a movie, and cuddle under a blanket with his parents while they watched the movie together...

"You know what? I think that-" Arthur accidentally took a step off the stage, falling onto the ground and being knocked unconscious. Peter looked down at the ground is disbelief.

Antonio ignored the spectacle Arthur had made of himself and addressed the crowd. "Does anyone want to take Peter's place in the games?"

Dead silence. Peter's heartbeat raged in his ears as he tried to mentally assess the situation. He was going to the Hunger Games. Somewhere in the crowd, two parents cried silent tears, one uncle was consumed with rage, and two uncles refused to show their feelings of disbelief.

Peter is walked next to Laura, the two shaking hands. Laura's handshake was firm and confident, yet warm at the same time. The two let go of each other's hands, both standing before the crowd next to each other as the national anthem began to play. Antonio's loud voice rang through the air.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you your representatives in this year's annual Hunger Games! Laura Maes and Peter Kirkland!"

* * *

><p>Spanish translations:<p>

_Hola, amigos!_(Hello, friends!)

_¿Cómo estás? _(How are you? This is an informal way of speaking, as in to someone you're on a first name basis with or to a child. And technically Spain is speaking to a crowd of children, so...)

_muy emocionante_ (very exciting)

_chica/s_ (girl/s) (chico is boy. Changing the a and o determines what gender it is.)

_muy extraño _(very strange)

*Latvia's dad is Estonia  
>*The mayor is Turkey. Originally he was Germania, then Germany, but I finally just decided to make him Turkey since both of the others would have caused a couple of problems.<p>

A/N: It's bull that I had to write this chapter twice. My laptop overheats all the time and now apparently every time it dies so I could lose files. I lost this chapter, and a kink meme fill. A good one at that, I was really, really almost done with it. I was like RAAAAAAGGE last night. I personally think that the original version of this chapter was better, but it's gone.

Originally, this chapter was going to include the goodbye scene, but I decided to end it here.

Laura Maes is Belgium's name. She'll play a larger role later on. Wouldn't it be so messed up if someone actually named Laura Maes reads this? XD (Oh, and Iceland is playing almost no role in this story save for the end. Hence his lack of anything in this chapter.)

I hope to (insert deity here) that you guys knew Sealand and Belgium were going to be the ones picked to go. That's kind of why they're set as the main characters. =I

Updates are going to be pretty wonky. Starting tomorrow I need to start working on my summer homework for school. I put it off because I have a test the second day of school. AP Calculus is going to majorly suck ass. Yay.

_**Reviews make me happy, so don't forget to leave one! ****:)**_


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